Emanuel shifts to fundraising role for Obama

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has a new fundraising role in President Barack Obama’s re-election effort, answers questions from the press after speaking Wednesday at the Illinois delegation breakfast in Charlotte, N.C. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will target the country's biggest Democratic donors for President Barack Obama's re-election effort to try to offset the Republican Party's money advantage, a new role that means he no longer is a co-chair of the campaign, officials said Wednesday.

Emanuel's move to help Priorities USA Action, one of a new breed of super PACs that can raise unlimited contributions, was marked by interesting timing at both the national and local levels.

Word of the mayor's new role broke in The Washington Post just hours after his speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, where he touted the decision-making skills of the president he served as White House chief of staff.

But sources close to Emanuel said the mayor actually had resigned from the campaign a few weeks ago because federal election law does not allow coordination between super PACs and candidates.

For Emanuel, word of the new task allowed him to spend his last day in Charlotte in the spotlight talking about how he plans to dive deeper into the fundraising effort. Previously, Emanuel faced questions about why he wasn't back in Chicago dealing with the prospect of a teachers strike and a spike in homicides and other street violence.

The mayor planned to return home early Thursday after a late-night convention party. On Thursday evening he's set to host an Obama speech-watching party for campaign volunteers at a trendy River North bar.

"The mayor's always felt it was a top priority to re-elect the president, and this is another avenue to get that accomplished," said Tom Bowen, executive director of the mayor's campaign fund, The Chicago Committee.

"It will require of the mayor the same time, energy and effort he was already going to spend. It's not about what he'll be doing to raise money, but how," Bowen said.

Shifting from the campaign to the Obama-backed super PAC could provide Emanuel with the opportunity to stay involved with the president's re-election while having more time and less travel to deal with. Appearing on CNN, Emanuel said he expected the job to involve a lot of "one-on-one conversations."

Emanuel's departure from Obama's camp was required by federal laws that prevent campaign officials from coordinating with independent-expenditure super PACs over spending on television advertising, direct mail, robocalls or other election efforts.

The mayor had been used by the Obama campaign as an effective high-dollar-raising surrogate for more than a year, with Emanuel's brief but lucrative tenure in the investment banking industry providing him with a network of donors to tap in an industry that has not been as welcoming to the president as it was four years ago.

But with Romney's campaign and the Republican National Committee raising more than Obama's camp and the Democratic National Committee from May through July, expectations are that the GOP money lead will broaden. Add in the effects of Republican-backed super PACS, which can raise and spend unlimited and often undisclosed donations, and concerns about the effects of money on Obama and Democrats deepen.

With the number of high-end donors available to Obama shrinking because of federal donation limits, Emanuel's move to Priorities USA Action allows him to go after previous high-end contributors for even larger amounts. The super PACs were the result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled that businesses and special interests have a free-speech right to raise and spend unlimited amounts to directly influence the outcome of elections.

Aboard Air Force One as Obama traveled to Charlotte, campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki denied to reporters that shifting Emanuel to the super PAC was a sign of concern.

Psaki said the campaign always has said it expects to be out-raised by Republicans, "and it's been very clear on the super PAC side, it's evident in the monthly reporting. Mayor Emanuel is very close to the president, is a strong supporter of his. He has said he thinks this is the best way he can help the president get re-elected and what he feels is the best role he can play between now and November."

Emanuel "has said that this is what he thinks is the right — or his team has said that he thinks this is the best — way he can help the president get re-elected. So I think it's more about what (Emanuel) feels is the best role he can play between now and November," Psaki said.

Emanuel had been an early supporter of forming an Obama-backed super PAC to counter the heavy spending of Republican super PACs for Romney, but the president rejected the move. Obama later relented, and the campaign urged donors back Priorities USA as well.

Last month Priorities USA raised $10 million — its largest one-month total ever — though it still lagged considerably behind super PACs aligned with Romney.